Meh. That was pretty much my first impression of this when I watched it. I think I was too old to really care about cutesy animals and too young to appreciate some of the darker moments in this. Much like Dumbo and Pinocchio, this is one of those movies I watched because my mom loved it. But I’d already seen things like The Lion King, Pocahontas, and Aladdin then and Bambi was fairly unimpressive in comparison.

I do remember being scared of this goddamn owl, though.

Why, Disney? Just, why. 😐

My Impression Now

If I wanted to describe this movie in one word it would be ‘inoffensive’. I’ve watched it three times in a twenty-four-hour period and I’m still not entirely sure if that’s a good or a bad thing. I feel I have so little to actually talk about with it. Mostly because, say what you will, I don’t feel like Bambi holds up as an actual story. It’s more like cute animal clips with random moments of things happening in between.

Now, I will give it this much… The animation is miles above and beyond Dumbo. Everything in this movie screams ‘effort’, every character is extremely expressive and it is rather easy to connect with them because of it. However, considering the whole of what this movie is, it kinda feels wasted. I get that this is supposed to be something like a coming of age story but it also feels like it got distracted from actually telling it at some point along the way because the part where Bambi actually gets to grow up… Is just skipped over. His mother gets shot, his father takes him… SPRING! And he’s a teenager now. Oookay.

And yes, let’s talk about that transition, everyone loves to. I get that from an adult point of view it’s jarring. Heck, I actually laughed out loud when it went from “Your mother can’t be with you anymore, Bambi” to the happiest fucking birds you’ll ever see in animation, but you know what? It’s very clearly a “Look, small children in the audience, everything is okay, please stop crying now, we’re sorry” on the part of the movie. And honestly, considering the number of people who I’ve seen mention being traumatized by Bambi’s mother getting shot as a child, I’m okay with that. It was clearly necessary.

The climax of this movie suffers the same problem as the rest of it; the animation is impressive, but from a story standpoint, I don’t care enough. There is a lot of death of background characters and it builds a good level of tension, but at that point, I felt like I still knew next to nothing about anyone involved considering that, aside from Bambi himself, his father, and his soon-to-be mate, none of the main cast was actually involved. There was no Flower, no Thumper, not even that stupid fucking Owl.

This is the second time I break my own rule for this series, but I was curious to look at the plot synopsis for the book this was based on and yeaaah… I get that Disney couldn’t go all out on how every day in a deer’s life is constantly trying not to get shot, but the book actually has something this movie lacks. It shows Bambi actually learning what he needs to survive from his father. And this is the reason Bambi 2 is going to be one of a few ‘sequels’ I’ll eventually cover in this series. Because apparently, it covers that missing chunk of the story. Sadly, it’ll take a while to get there chronologically. It came out in 2006. That’s 60+ years after the original Bambi. That’s a lovely time to wait for the greatest question about this movie to get finally answered, huh?

Songs Overview

The songs were kinda forgettable in this. Think one of them might have been about love. And one about the spring rain or something. They were pleasant on the ears, but I don’t really remember them anymore.

Overall song rating for Bambi: 3/10

Racist Moment Spotlight

I can’t say I actually found anything in this movie. Huh. Wait, can calling a skunk ‘Flower’ be considered racist? Food for thought there.

So, there you have it, guys. My review of Bambi. And, full disclosure, this was the fastest I’ve written a review for this series. It took me five minutes. The reason it took me this long to post it was that my co-writer, Mr.Doomed (aka Plotstains), was supposed to come in and collaborate with me on this. And, hopefully, he will on the following entries in this series. However, right now, his computer died. So he wasn’t able to deliver his part of the review. And the reason it took me this long to post this is that I’d been waiting to see if his computer would be fixed. As you guys may be aware, that’s a pain I’m very familiar with.

Since making this series a collaboration is something I was looking forward to doing, I may give it more time before the next entry comes out, but I’ll find other things to look into in the meantime, don’t worry. >.>

As for where Bambi ranks compared to the previous entries in this series? That’s hard to say. I didn’t find as much wrong with it as I did Pinocchio and Dumbo but at the same time, it was pretty boring. I think as it is I’d rank it above Dumbo and below Snow White and Pinnochio. So my favorites list at this point would be:

Snow White

Pinocchio

Bambi

Dumbo

Up next is Cinderella though. That should be interesting. It’s been a while since we had a princess on this show. 😛

I had a discussion with Doomed a while ago about whether you should stop enjoying something if you find out the creator isn’t that great of a person or they’ve done something you morally object to. Things like that. Should the artist, as a human being, influence how much a particular work is worth to you or should it be able to speak for itself?

To me, that’s a complicated question. On one hand, I want to be able to appreciate a piece of writing, or a movie, or a song; whatever, without any form of bias, but… I think some things can taint my enjoyment.

For instance, I unsubscribed from Channel Awesome following the #ChangeTheChannel movement (?) started out and some of their practices became public. And I did it entirely in solidarity. Because some of the things described on the document they released were pretty serious and the channel’s response to all of it was, in my opinion, insulting as all hell. I think it’s one thing to run a business as a business and you can’t be everyone’s friend all the time when you do that, but… There has to be something along the lines of basic human decency involved there.

And if you don’t know what I’m talking about with this… A five minute Google search will put you up to speed. And there are thousands of YouTubers who talked about it so… Not hard to find at all. I read some of what the creators in that movement had to say and the entire Google document they released reporting their issues with the site and how it was run and some of it was pretty serious. So if you wanna know about it, you should look it up for yourselves.

All of that said, the Nostalgia Critic was one of the first internet review shows I really got into. Disneycember was the reason I started Disney Revisited in the first place because I realized I didn’t remember much of a lot of early Disney films and I never gave a second look to some of them. So I guess I can say, in a way, Doug Walker influenced me going into writing reviews. And because of that, recently, I tried to go back and rewatch the show from the very first season and… I couldn’t enjoy it the way I used to. Knowing the things that I learned, it left a huge bitter taste in my mouth. Especially in episodes where he would criticize things such as bastardizing Dr. Seuss to make shitty movies strictly for profit; something I’m 100% in agreement with. However, considering some of the things Channel Awesome did behind the scenes and put out there just for the sake of making money, hearing those words out of Doug Walker’s mouth rang hypocritical and hollow.

This was someone that, in a way, I looked up to. I thought he looked at movies in a similar way I look at writing. As a form of art. And, I don’t know, maybe I can’t say that he doesn’t believe what he’s saying in those videos. Maybe I can’t hold him entirely responsible for all the things in that document, but… I can’t look the other way and tell myself he was innocent or oblivious either. So if he does believe the things he said, he doesn’t really practice any of it. And either way, his words become worthless.

I believe that putting effort and heart into your work is what makes it valuable. It’s how I measure the value of the things I review independent of skill level. It’s how I measure my own value as a creator independent of my own level of skill. To me, if I say or write something I don’t believe in, for whatever reason, I’m less worthy of whatever audience I’ve built. And in that sense, I think what an artist does, and who they are, weighs pretty heavy on my ability to enjoy their work. Likewise, if they mistreat their fans or in some other way spit in the face of the people responsible for their success, it makes me far less willing to want to be one of those people myself. Especially putting into account the amount of support I’ve been given myself in the past couple of years. I don’t know how someone can get to a point of not appreciating the fact they owe their success to others. It definitely makes me sad to see that from people whose work I admire.

That said, I still have a lot of people whose work I enjoy and who influenced me as a writer and as someone who occasionally reviews things, so… Maybe I’ll dedicate a post to them one of those days.

Sorry I kinda disappeared after my computer came around and I said I’d be more active. I’ve been doing my yearly ritual of getting shit in order. Medical check-ups, dentist (which I hate so much). And just generally trying to make sure I’m still doing okay.

That and my niece and nephew are off from school, so… I’ve been playing a lot of board games with them. >.>

But I already have my next Disney review all planned out (I also might have someone collaborating with me on those moving forward, which will be a first).

I’m also actually thinking of how I want to get things done with the blog from now on. I mean, I understand that my fan fiction commentary, at this point in time, are my most viewed posts on this blog. As in, I haven’t posted one in ages and they still get regular views today. And I know that a good rule for life is that if something works; stick with it, but the truth of the matter is those take a lot of energy to put together. A post with half a chapter’s worth of This World And The Next was draining my sanity to a near breaking point. And don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy making those, as crazy and pissed of as they make me feel, but while I’m still trying to finish episode one of Shadows Rise I just can’t afford that level of mental burnout. So, while I do intend to go back to those, I’m gonna save them for when I get episode one of SR under my belt. And I’m only four chapters short of accomplishing that, so it shouldn’t take that long now.

Twilight won’t be that long coming back, but I did lose my copy of the book wit my laptop. I had it saved as a pdf and not on my Kindle like every other digital book I own, but I’ll find another copy soon enough, no worries.

But I do want to talk about some shows I like and make a few Top 10s again like I used to. So this blog shouldn’t be left abandoned again this year. 🙂

For now though, I still have some real life issues to tend to. So, I’ll see you guys soon.

So, after bit of a struggle and some waiting. I have my new/used computer. It’s not so different from my old one and honestly…. I’m quite happy about that. 😀

New computer is on the left, plugged in. My old one is on the right. Also, yes that is my messy bed. Apologies. >.>

It’s not exactly the same as mine. It’s a generation newer and a little bit better. Right now I’m setting up what I need on it. Then later in the week I need to see if I can plug my older one to a screen and see what other files I can salvage from it. The essential stuff is all backed up, so it’s no great loss if I can’t but I’m still gonna try.

Compared to my previous one… It runs a lot smoother. It heats up a lot less which I think is fantastic. I need some cleaning fluid to wipe the screen with. Mine ran out some time ago. >.>

See, it totally works and everything! 😀

Either way. I have some readjusting to do, but I’m officially back in business now!

Thanks a lot to everyone who showed support in one way or another. I know there are a lot of people with bigger problems than not having a computer, and I wasn’t really expecting the amount of help that I got. I really, really, appreciate it.

Shadows Rise has been coming along okay. I’ve kind of gotten distracted from it with the whole computer thing, but I’m just three and a half chapters from a finished first episode. And I’ve been very mixed between feeling optimistic and terrified about that.

I haven’t had much time to actually grow Written In Shadows. We have about ten followers at the moment. Right now I have a few people reading along as I complete chapters; prior to them being edited, and the feedback has been encouraging. So I’m hoping once the content starts getting posted and we’re actually active on there, those numbers will improve. All we really want is to share our world with people so, the writing being done (or this first section of it at least), gaining views becomes our main goal.

Funny enough that’s the part that worries me more. It used to be having people see my stuff or it not being good enough. And now… My biggest fear is that it’s sitting there unread. I don’t know if that’s better or worse. You guys tell me.

I put up a counter on the side bar there *points to the right* to keep you guys posted on how the whole computer thing is coming along. When I do have a new setup, I definitely intend to continue some of the stuff I started. Especially the fan fiction commentary. As much as it pains me to read some of that stuff, I did commit to it. And it is the most viewed stuff on this blog hands down… So someone’s enjoying my pain. 😛

Thank you for the help and the shout out! And it’s always great to know one of my posts inspired something; even a post of this nature. Hopefully everyone who needs it gets a little help this Holiday season. 🙂

You are probably getting ready to spoil your loved ones, and that’s always great. But generosity is even greater when you give to people who aren’t part of your everyday life circle.

I consider myself to be a giving person. I don’t like writing this, because it sounds self-praising. But I think it is true. I give easily, and without expecting anything back in return…

Today I read a post published by Camilla from A Blackbird’s Nest. Our fellow blogger is trying to save the money to get a modest computer to keep her writing going on & offline. I don’t know Camilla personally, but for some reason, her post spoke to me.

Many people in the bloggosphere have a Ko-fi link or a Paypal donation button in their blogs. Some, just to give an opportunity to other bloggers to show their…

First and foremost, I apologize if this is not the best written post on my list, but I’m not on my computer right now and… I can’t quite get along with the keyboard on this one.

That being said, the main reason I haven’t been around this time was computer troubles. As mine is dying and I’ve been jumping around from laptop to laptop the past few months. I sent it in for repair, but other than being dirty they didn’t find anything wrong with it. I got it back and after a couple of days it started failing again.

It’s a six-year-old laptop. I gotta start facing the fact that the issue may not be fixable, however… I can’t afford a new one. I can’t even afford an old one right now. Getting something that’ll last me until I can save up for a new one will cost me the equivalent of 200$ (700 Brazilian Reais). And I’m currently 9065$ short of that amount.

When I put up a donation button on this site it was meant to sit there in case someone wanted to do me a kindness. I didn’t intend to ask for anything, but… December is a dead month for me as far as freelancing goes and even then, what I can do on borrowed computers is limited. So. This time I’m actually gonna ask for something. If you’re reading this and you’re able… Donate. Anything helps. If not, please reblog this post. I wouldn’t be asking for help like this if I didn’t absolutely need it.

Any amount you donate, if you have something you want me to review, leave it on a message with your donation and I’ll do it. It might take me a little while to get a decent setup going again and come back, but I’ll absolutely do it.